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A  DISCOURSE 

Pre.\ched  at  the  Funeral  of 

ELIZABETH  HAVEN. 

/ 

IN  THE  CHAPEL  OF 

ROCKFORD  FEMALE  SEMINARY, 

DECEMBER  10th,  1871,  by 

Rev.  henry  M.  GOODWIN. 


ROCKFORD  ; 

Journal  Job  Printing  Establishment. 
1872.  • 


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DISCOURSE. 


lu  my  Father’s  House  are  many  mansions  ;  if  it  were  not  so 
I  would  have  told  you  ;  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And 
if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again,  and  re¬ 
ceive  you  unto  myself,  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  he  also. — 
John,  xiv.,  1-3. 

With  such  high  aud  comforting  words  does  our 
blessed  Lord  seek  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  his  disciples 
in  their  hour  of  sorrow  and  approaching  bereavement. 
And  these  wonderful  words,  unlike  other  human  utter¬ 
ances,  do  not  lose  their  power  by  repetition,  but  are  as 
fresh  and  true  and  peace-inspiring  now  as  when  they 
were  first  uttered.  How  do  they  calm  and  soothe  the 
grief  of  a  bereaved  heart  as  with  a  strain  of  heavenly 
music  I  How  do  they  reach  under  the  soul  bowed 
down  with  anguish,  and  lift  it  up,  and  transport  it  to 
a  region  where  death  and  darkness  and  sorrow  are  un¬ 
known  ! 

Let  us  look  a  little  deeper  into  their  meaning  and, 
spirit,  reniemberng  that  they  were  spoken  not  to  the 
eleven  disciples  alone,  but  to  all  who,  like  them,  have 
need  of  such  consolation. 


O 


Father  s  House:  What  a  world  of  associations, 
of  pleasant  memories  and  dear  affections,  docs  this  word 
recall.  It  is  the  synonym  of  home,  that  sweetest, 
dearest  word  in  human  language  :  only  it  is  a  better 
word,  because  bearing  with  it  the  image  of  parental 
ownership  and  love  and  protection.  And  this  is  the 
word  that  our  Saviour  chooses  to  convey  his  idea  of 
deaths  and  his  approaching  departure  fivm  the  world. 
Death,  in  his  mind,  is  only  a  going  home^  and  this  not 
merely  for  himself,  to  enjoy  the  blessedness  and  glory 
which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was; 
but  to  open  a  way  and  prepare  a  place  for  them  —  for 
all  his  disciples  to  the  end  of  time — that  where  he  is 
there  they  may  be  also.  No  mention  is  made  here  of 
the  grave.  That  is  no  house  or  home  of  man,  but  only 
of  the  dust  which  the  soul  has  left  behind  it.  That 
which  we  cling  to  so  fondly,  and  weep  over  so  bitterly, 
and  bear  so  tenderly  to  its  resting  place,  is  not  the  be¬ 
ing  we  loved  and  still  love.  She  is  not  here,  but  is 
risen  I  As  the  withered  calyx  in  which  the  bud  was 
I  folded  is  forgotten  in  the  blooming  of  the  flower  ;  as 
the  dry  and  deserted  cocoon  is  forgotten  in  the  flight 
of  the  gorgeous  butterfly ;  so  the  body  or  dust  of  the 
risen  and  emancipated  spirit  is  forgotten  and  ignored, 


— 5— 

at  least  by  the  soul,  in  that  new  and  higher  life  to 
which  it  has  ascended. 

In  the  ante-Christian  ages,  before  Christ  had  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light,  the  grave  was  the  “house 
appointed  for  all  living/^  and  imagination  grovelled 
with  sense  in  the  dust  and  below  it,  conceiving  the 
place  of  departed  spirits  under  the  most  gloomy  images, 
as  a  subterranean  abode  of  darkness  and  silence.  Thus 
Job  describes  it  as  “a  land  of  darkness,  as  darkness 
itself,  and  of  the  shadow  of  death  without  any  order, 
and  where  the  light  is  as  darkness.’^  But  Christ  has 
changed  all  that.  By  his  own  descent  into  the  grave, 
he  has  transformed  Hades  into  Paradise,  and  the  pris¬ 
on-land  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  into  the 
Father’s  House,  where  light  and  beauty  and  joy  and 
love  eternal  reign. 

Death  is  not  death  to  the  Christian,  but  life.  Christ 
hath  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light.  What  we  call  death  is  a  going  home  to  our 
Father’s  House;  here  we  are  away  from  home;  exiles 
in  a  foreign  land,  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth, 
having  no  sontinuing  city  or  permanent  abode.  The 
true  idea  of  home  is  never,  or  but  faintly,  realized  here. 
Memory  idealizes  our  earthly  homes,  and  young  imagi¬ 
nation,  which  sees  a  “splendor  in  the  grass  and  a  glory 


— 6— 

iu  the  flower/^  invests  the  humblest  home  with  an  ideal 
glory  not  its  own,  but  which  belongs  to  the  mind.  But 
our  highest  ideal  of  home  will  there  be  fully  and  com¬ 
pletely  realized;  for  “eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him 
There  is  a  permanent  abode,  the  perpetual  and  untir¬ 
ing  presence  of  kindred  and  friends,  parental  and  con¬ 
jugal  and  brotherly  love,  domestic  happiness,  sweet 
communion,  beauty,  peace  and  rest.  All  these  ideas 
cluster  around  the  words  “Father’s  House;”  and  these 
are  the  associations  which  the  Saviour  would  substitute 
in  the  minds  of  his  disciples  for  the  dark  and  gloomy 
ones  which  are  commonly  associated  with  death  and  the 
grave. 

“Ai  Father^ s  House  are  many  mansionsJ^  Heav¬ 
en  is  a  grand  and  spacious  residence,  large  enough  for 
the  abode  of  all  the  millions  of  God’s  children.  But 
this  is  not  all  that  is  meant  by  these  words.  “  Many 
mansions”  implies  that  there  are  many  abodes  or  houses 
within  the  great  house  or  home  of  our  Father.  Heaven 
is  not  a  universal  sociable,  nor  a  vast  temple  of  worship, 
as  some  conceive,  “  where  congregations  ne’er  break  up, 
and  Sabbaths  never  end.”  It  is  a  place  of  domesticity 
as  well  as  worship,  of  private  as  well  as  public  life. 


— 7— 

Our  nature  is  individual  as  well  as  social,  and  needs  in¬ 
dividual  centers,  or  single  homes,  where  families,  or 
those  allied  by  special  kindred  and  affinity,  may  live 
together  and  pursue  their  individual  work  or  calling, 
in  harmony  with  the  larger  and  universal  society  of 
heaven.  This  need  of  a  home,  or  mansion,  that  shall 
be  in  some  true  sense  our  own,  and  where  the  privacies 
and  sanctities  of  home  may  be  cherished  and  preserved 
— this  is  not  a  necessity  merely  of  this  earthly  and 
temporal  life,  but  a  condition  of  ail  highest  and  truest 
life,  and  may  therefore  be  reasonably  supposed  to  be¬ 
long  to  the  heavenly  state.  The  social  separations  will 
not  be  so  rigid  and  exclusive  as  here,  where  jealousies 
and  animosities  and  selfishness  build  walls  of  division 
between  neighbors  and  those  who  should  be  one.  The 
home  circles  will  doubtless  be  larger  and  less  exclusive 
than  here.  But  this  two-fold  principle  of  our  nature — 
the  social  and  the  individual — will  find  full  and  perfect 
realization  in  the  heavenly  state.  The  representations 
of  heaven  in  the  Apocalypse  under  the  image  of  a  city, 
the  New  Jerusalem,  with  streets  and  walls  and  palaces, 
as  well  as  these  words  of  the  Saviour,  would  seem  to 
indicate  this. 

We  might  contrast  these  heavenly  mansions  with  our 
earthly  homes,  even  the  best  of  them,  in  respect  of 


D 


— 8— 

beauty  and  solidity  and  permanence,  being  the  work, 
not  of  human,  but  celestial,  perhaps  angelic,  art.  We 
adorn  our  homes  here  with  pictures  and  whatever  is 
pleasing  to  the  eye  and  taste;  we  surround  and  orna¬ 
ment  them  with  all  that  is  beautiful  in  nature  and  art. 
But  what  is  all  earthly  art  and  beauty  compared  with 
that  of  heaven  ?  We  construct  our  houses  of  the  best 
and  most  enduring  materials;  but  how  cheap  the  best 
of  them  are  in  comparison  with  the  city  which  John 
saw,  with  its  walls  of  jaspar,  its  gates  of  pearl,  and  gar¬ 
nished  with  all  manner  of  precious  stones.  Something 
of  the  beauty  and  solidity  of  these  mansions  our  Saviour 
speaks  of  is  indicated — symbolically,  not  perhaps  liter¬ 
ally — in  that  promise  of  Isaiah :  “  Behold,  I  will  lay 

thy  stones  with  fair  colors,  and  lay  thy  foundations  with 
sapphires,  and  I  will  make  thy  windows  of  agates,  and 
thy  gates  of  carbuncles,  and  all  thy  borders  of  pleasant 
stones.^^  And  again  the  Apostle  says — For  we  know 
that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  be  dissolved, 
we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.’’  This  solidity  and  eter¬ 
nal  durability  of  the  heavenly  mansions  we  shall  one 
day  inhabit,  which  our  friends  who  have  died  in  the 
Lord  do  now  inhabit,  stands  opposed  to,  and  should  cor¬ 
rect,  that  false  conception  which  so  many  entertain  of 


— 9— 


heaven,  as  a  sort  of  cloud-land,  shadowy,  unsubstantial, 
and  almost  unreal,  because  it  is  a  spiritual  world.  Con¬ 
trary  to  this,  the  scriptures  represent  it  as  a  more  real 
and  solid  and  substantial  world  than  this  we  inhabit. 
Its  mansions  are  real  houses,  more  solid  and  enduring, 
as  well  as  more  stately  than  those  we  dwell  in  here. 
Our  houses  and  cities  fall  in  the  course  of  time,  or  are 
consumed  by  fire ;  but  the  walls  of  that  celestial  city 
never  crumble  or  consume,  for  it  is  a  city  which  hath 
foundations^  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 

“  1  gof  says  Christ  to  his  disciples,  “  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you!^  This  word  indicates  the  love  and  the 
wisdom  of  Christ.  When  a  father  leaves  his  family 
and  goes  to  California,  or  to  some  distant  land,  to  find 
or  to  make  a  new  home,  it  is  not  for  himself  alone  that 
he  goes,  not  to  make  his  own  fortune,  or  to  enjoy  the 
beauty  and  good  which  he  finds  there,  apart  from  those 
he  loves;  but  it  is  all  for  them^  to  prepare  a  place  and 
a  home  for  those  whom  he  loves  as  his  own  soul.  And 
though  separated  for  a  time,  the  separation  is  cheerfully 
borne  in  prospect  of  the  glad  re-union  and  the  better 
fortune  before  them.  So  Christ,  in  leaving  the  world 
and  going  to  heaven,  to  his  Father^s  house,  goes 
not  for  his  own  sake,  or  his  own  enjoyment,  not  merely 
to  enter  into  his  glory  after  his  life  of  toil  and  suffering 


—10— 

here  on  earth.  There  was  indeed  a  joy  in  this 
thought  both  to  his  own  heart  and  to  those  who  loved 
him,  as  he  himself  said  to  his  disciples,  If  ye  loved 
me  ye  would  rejoice  because  I  said,  I  go  to  the  Father/^ 
But  his  departure  to  heaven  was  for  a  more  benevolent 
purpose  than  this,  viz.,  to  prepare  a  place  or  home  for 
his  friends,  his  family  and  kindred  here  on  earth;  and 
his  love  and  wisdom  may  be  trusted  to  prepare  it  well 

If  it  be  asked,  how  he  prepares  a  place  for  them,  or 
what  is  the  preparation  which  he  makes,  I  answer, 
there  may  be  physical  preparations  needful  in  perfect* 
ing  and  fitting  up  the  material  universe,  or  the  many 
mansions  in  his  Father’s  house,  in  a  manner  suitable 
for  the  eternal  residence  of  his  saints.  He  who  built 
and  prepared  the  earth  for  man’s  temporal  abode,  may 
not  be  unworthily  employed  in  preparing  worlds  and 
abodes  for  his  future  and  eternal  dwelling  place.  But 
besides  this,  which  of  course  must  be  beyond  our 
knowledge,  there  is  another  moral  or  spiritual  prepara¬ 
tion  which  could  be  effected  only  by  his  death,  and 
which  is  indicated  by  the  words  so  often  sung :  “  When 
thou  hadst  overcome  the  sharpness  of  death,  thou  didst 
open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers.” 

Contrast  here  the  costly  preparations  which  Christ 
has  made  and  is  making  to  receive  his  friends,  with  that 


—11— 

reception  which  he  met  with  when  he  came  into  this 
world  from  those  he  came  to  save.  He  came  unto  his 
own  and  his  own  received  him  not.  There  was  not 
even  room  for  him  in  human  habitations  to  be  born,  but 
he  had  to  be  born  in  a  manger,  and  to  be  cradled — this 
divine  and  heavenly  babe — among  the  beasts  of  the 
stall. 

^'‘And  if  1  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you^  1  will 
come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself  that  where  1 
am  there  ye  may  he  also/^  Having  prepared  a  home 
for  his  children,  he  does  not  leave  them  to  find  their 
way  to  it  alone  and  unguided,  but  he  comes  back 
himself,  and  takes  them  there.  What  a  proof  of  love 
and  fidelity  on  the  part  of  the  Saviour  does  this  show ! 
And  what  a  beautiful  idea  of  death,  the  death  of 
Christian  believers,  is  here  re\;^ealed!  No  dark  and 
fearful  transition,  no  terrible  encounter  with  a  powerful 
and  unseen  foe;  but  a  gentle  and  peaceful  conduct 
by  the  hand  of  the  Saviour  himself  to  his  own  glo¬ 
rious  home,  to  the  mansion  in  his  Father’s  house 
which  he  has  prepared  for  each.  The  fear,  the  suf¬ 
fering,  the  conflict  which  we  so  much  dread  in  dying, 
are  all  before,  and  belong  to  this  world  and  this 
life.  Death  itself  is  as  sweet  and  peaceful  as  an 
infant’s  slumber,  and  joyful  as  an  infant’s  waking  on 


—12- 

its  mother^s  bosom  !  What  thoujrh  the  transition  be 

Cj 

an  unconscious  one,  as  often  happens;  the  waking  on 
the  other  side,  in  heaven,  is  all  the  more  blissful.  As 
a  traveler  journeying  homeward  by  night,  enters  a 
sleeping  car  many  miles  from  home,  and  awakes  in  his 
native  city,  so  the  Christian  lies  down  to  sleep  on  earth 
and  awakes  in  heaven  ! 

This  coming  of  the  Saviour  for  his  saints,  is  a  two¬ 
fold  coming;  first  at  the  death  of  the  believer,  when  he 
takes  the  cold  hand  which  earthly  friends  have  relin¬ 
quished,  and  leads  the  emancipated  spirit  through  the 
gates  into  the  city ;  and  secondly,  at  the  resurrection  at 
the  last  day,  when  he  will  come  again  to  receive  his 
saints  clothed  in  a  body  made  like  unto  his  own  glo¬ 
rious  body;, and  when  the  whole  man,  body,  soul  and 
spirit,  shall  ascend  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air ;  and  so 
shall  they  ever  be  with  the  Lord. 

I  hardly  know  with  what  words  to  speak  of  her  whose 
untimely  death  we  all  mourn  to-day.  What  she  was  in 
her  outward  life — how  good  and  gentle  and  pure  she 
was — is  known  to  all  who  ever  saw  her ;  for  goodness 
and  gentleness  and  purity  were  written  on  every  feature 
of  her  countenance.  But  only  those  who  were  associat¬ 
ed  with  her  more  intimately  knew  the  rare  worth  and 
beauty  of  her  character.  Delicate  and  shrinkingly 


sensitive  as  a  flower,  she  yet  did  not  shrink  from  any 
duty  that  was  laid  upon  her,  and  was  even  forward  to 
take  up  any  burden  or  toil  however  irksome  to  her  na¬ 
ture,  which  lay  in  her  path.  Thoroughness  and  fidelity 
characterized  in  an  eminent  degree  all  that  she  did. 
This  was  especially  manifest  in  the  instruction  given  to 
her  classes,  and  not  less  in  every  humblest  duty.  Of 
her  it  may  be  truly  said  :  “  She  have  done  what  she 

could  and  she  did  it  well^  gracefully  as  well  as  thor¬ 
oughly  and  heartily.  Pure  benevolence,  free  not  only 
from  selfishness,  but  from  any  thought  of  self,  seemed 
to  radiate  from  her  presence  and  actions.  Her  sister 
teachers  have  testified  to  the  sweet  simplicity  and  beauty 
of  her  prayers,  evincing  the  sincerity  and  quality  of 
her  religious  character.  Indeed,  the  spirit  of  religion, 
which  is  faith  and  love,  mingled  with  all  her  work,  and 
shed  an  aroma  of  goodness  all  around  her,  which  was 
felt  rather  than  seen  ;  so  that  her  unconsious  tuition 
was  more  influential  in  moulding  and  refining  the  char¬ 
acter  of  her  pupils  than  any  positive  teaching.  She 
was  connected  with  this  institution  as  a  teacher,  about 
four  years,  though  not  continuously,  and  was  more  and 
more  filling  a  large  and  indispensible  place  in  the  Sem¬ 
inary,  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  her.  Her 
parents,  too,  were  more  and  more  looking  to  her  as  the 
future  companion  and  solace  of  their  declining  years. 


—14  — 

But  the  Master  has  called  her  to  go  up  higher ;  and 
she  has  left  her  place  and  labor  here,  to  occupy  the 
place  He  has  prepared  for  her  above.  We  will  not 
mourn  for  her  too  bitterly,  certainly  not  as  those  with¬ 
out  hope.  Let  us  rejoice  rather  that  our  loss  is  her 
unspeakable  gain.  Let  us  not  look  at  the  earthward, 
but  the  heavenward  side  of  this  affliction  In  that 
higher  sphere  into  which  she  has  entered,  there  is  scope 
for  the  full  unfolding  and  exercise  of  all  the  rare  facul¬ 
ties  with  which  she  was  endowed.  Her  unselfish  love 
will  there  find  a  congenial  atmosphere  in  which  to 
expatiate  in  selfless  purity.  Her  love  of  beauty  will 
there  find  unlimited  scope  for  its  utmost  and  perfect 
gratification.  Her  love  of  truth  and  ardent  thirst  for 
knowledge  will  be  fully  satisfied  there,  with  angels  for 
companions  and  Christ  himself  as  teacher ;  for  it  is 
written,  “  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne,  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living 

fountains  of  water.^^  Happy  will  it  be,  if  her  pupils 
here  shall  be  prepared  to  follow  her  there ;  if  they 
shall  learn  from  her  the  excellence  of  that  Christian 
faith  which  made  her  life  so  useful  and  beautiful,  and 
her  death  so  peaceful  and  blessed.  May  we  all  so  live 
that  we  may  meet  again,  not  only  her,  but  all  those 
dear  ones  whom  Christ  has  taken  to  be  with  him  wfflere 
He  is,  in  our  Father’s  house. 


OBITUARY. 


The  following  obituary  of  Miss  Haven  was  written  for  the 
Congregationalist^  by  one  who  knew  her  well,  and  was  for  some 
time  associated  with  her  in  the  Seminary  at  Rockford. 

Died  at  the  Seminary  in  Rockford,  Illinois,  at  four 
o’clock  P.  M.,  Dec.  8,  1871,  of  Typhoid  Pneumonia, 
after  a  severe  illness  of  eight  days,  Elizabeth  Haven, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Prof  Joseph  Haven,  of  Chicago,  to 
whom  your  readers  need  no  introduction.  She  was  born 
in  Ashland,  Mass  ,  Dec.  15,  1843.  Her  early  educa¬ 
tion  was  conducted  in  New  England;  but  her  father’s 
family  having  subsequently  removed  to  Chicago,  she 
graduated  at  the  High  School  in  that  city,  and  after¬ 
wards  attended  Mrs  Duel’s  family  school  in  Providence. 
While  there  she  united  with  Dr.  Swain’s  church.  For 
several  years  she  has  been  an  earnest  and  valued  teacher 
in  the  Young  Ladies’  Seminary  of  this  place,  where  her 
loveliness  of  character,  combined  with  her  fine  intellec¬ 
tual  abilities,  was  a  source  of  help  and  strength  and 
culture  to  both  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  pupils  com¬ 
mitted  to  her  care.  And  thus  suddenly,  in  the  midst 
of  her  usefulness,  has  been  called  away  one  whose  sin¬ 
gular  beauty  of  life  made  her  akin  to  the  angels  in 
spiritual  aspirations,  while  she  sympathized  intensely 
with  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  those  about  her.  One  of 
the  most  prominent  traits  in  her  character  was  her  self- 
forgetfulness,  which  seemed  to  surround  all  -  her  words 


—16— 


and  deeds  with  a  peculiar  charm.  This  was  so  strong 
that  it  could  triumph  over  her  extreme  sensitiveness ; 
and  though  naturally  shrinking  from  anything  like 
publicity,  “  Where  duty  called  or  danger  she  was  not 
wanting  there. Her  love  for  all  things  beautiful  in 
nature  or  in  art  amounted  to  almost  a  passion.  She 
appeared  to  hold  communion  with  flowers  and  trees  and 
birds  ;  and  the  splendors  of  our  sunsets  seemed  to  flood 
her  soul  with  a  rapturous  joy.  And  it  is  a  delightful 
thought  that  now  amidst  the  beatiflc  glories  of  the  par¬ 
adise  of  God,  all  the  yearnings  of  her  aesthetic  nature 
will  be  completely  satisfled.  Another  marked  trait  in 
her  character  was  her  thoroughness  in  whatever  she 
undertook  as  daughter,  student,  friend  or  teacher.  Su¬ 
perficial  work  of  any  kind  pained  her  by  a  sense  of  its 
imperfection  and  insincerity.  And  so,  her  daily  life, 
from  the  exquisite  arranging  of  a  bouquet,  all  through 
the  realms  of  mental  and  spiritual  action  to  her  childlike 
faith  in  Christ,  was  characterized  by  a  completeness  as 
beautiful  as  it  is  rare.  While  her  estimate  of  herself 
was  always  low,  at  times  even  painfully  so,  yet  after 
uniting  with  church  those  that  knew  her  best  never 
heard  her  express  a  doubt  as  to  her  acceptance  by  her 
Saviour.  Hence,  during  those  last  days,  she  had  no 
preparation  to  make  for  an  exchange  of  worlds,  but  was 
even  glad  to  go  and  be  with  Christ.  And  though  her 
time  on  earth  measured  in  years  was  short,  it  was  long 
enough  to  be  ever  remembered  by  those  that  came  under 
its  influence  as  a  strain  of  heavenly  music  stealing  softly 


—17 


and  soothingly  upon  them  amidst  the  cares  and  weari¬ 
ness  of  life,  calling  them  to  a  quiet  trust  in  Him  she 
loved  so  well.  But  while  the  Seminary,  the  home 
circle,  and  the  hearts  of  friends  are  sadly  bereaved,  she 
did  not  leave  us  comfortless;  but  a  benediction  of 
beautiful  memories  of  her  dear  words  and  acts  has 
rested  on  our  lives. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  in  the  Seminary  chapel, 
and  conducted  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Goodwin,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Curtis  and  Rev.  Frank  P.  Woodbury.  The 
chapel  was  gracefully  decorated  with  corals,  shells  and 
flowers,  and  on  the  casket  were  placed  a  cross  and  crown 
made  by  loving  hands,  emblematic  of  her  faith  and 
victory,  while  the  white  flowers  of  which  they  were 
composed  fitly  typified  the  purity  of  the  soul  that  had 
taken  its  joyful  flight  from  the  still  form  beneath. 

A. 


Rockford,  Dec.  14,  1871. 


WAITING  FOR  US. 


Earth  was  too  dark  for  our  lovely  flower, 

God  took  her  home  to  Ills  garden  fair  ; 

The  fragrant  blossom  that  graced  our  bower 
Is  now  in  the  angels’  tender  care, 

Blooming  forever  in  paradise 
A  beautiful  lily  silvery-bright. 

Where  no  clouds  gather — no  tempests  rise. 
Where  all  is  harmony,  love  and  light. 

Her  memory  lingers — a  sweet  perfume 
In  the  vacant  arbor  where  we  dwell  ; 

Never  another  flower  can  bloom 
To  All  her  place  whom  we  loved  so  well. 

Her  beautiful  life  was  a  poem  sweet. 

Rare  in  its  meekness,  charity,  faith, 

God  lent  her  to  us,  —then  oh  how  fleet 
He  sent  from  Heaven  the  Angel,  Death. 

The  flower  was  blighted, — God  took  the  germ  ; 

We  gazed  on  the  casket, — the  soul  had  fled  : 
Like  a  delicate  rose,  the  prey  of  the  worm 
The  form  we  loved  lay  silent  and  dead  ; 

But  the  spirit-blossom  is  living  yet 
More  fragrant  far  in  the  Saviour’s  care, 

She  waits  for  us  ;  when  life’s  sun  is  set 
We  shall  meet  in  the  heavenly  arbors  lair. 


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